Chapter VIII: Section 4: re-emphasizes the status and function of the States,

even as it lays down the first of the limitations upon State power voluntarily accepted by the ratifying members of the Union: “The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof: But the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the place of choosing Senators.”

In Section 5, the first of many limitations upon the central government appears: Each house of the Congress must keep a journal of its proceedings, and at the desire of one-fifth of the members present, must record the individual yeas and nays. Close study of the Constitution will disclose many such restrictive provisions, for the Constitution is in many respects a negative instrument; almost every delegation of power is followed at once by a snatching back, or by a qualification, or by a jealous and suspicious prohibition. The Constitution abounds in reservations, in neithers, noes, and buts.